When the year draws to an end, we usually take stock of what has been achieved during the year. Today's post is a collection of the most attractive among the most visited post of 2013. 2013 ends and a new year full of events begins to share, reforms to do, rooms to decorate and houses to be rescued from oblivion, bringing them closer to your screens, showing you ideas, solutions that you can apply in your own homes.

Good morning, you know that Xirimiri especially likes apartment refurbishments in Barcelona's Eixample, so today we have featured another one recently published by the magazine Dezeen and designed by Anna and Eugeni Bach architects, already we posted one home at the beginning of our Blog. (Here!)

In this case, the property is placed on the two top floors of the building, the lower one area is 65 m2 with a narrow terrace and on top, about 40 m2 with a enjoyable outdoor space for celebrations.

Joining both floors, the total area of this property is 112m2, 45 m2 terraces. Not bad! Do not you think?

As the result of the renovation, finished this year, access, dinning room, kitchen, children's room and bathroom are located on the ground floor, leaving the top for the couple, with their respective room, bathroom and studio.

As we have already said, both are linked by a terrace with swing outside staircase. Floors are visually linked through a wood staircase, where a cabinet and even part of the kitchen are integrated. In this way, the living space is understood as one and not as the addition of overlapping plants.

It was decided to keep the existing wood frames of windows and doors, as the old ensanche's homes used to be. At the top, however, are replaced by new materials, because no 'worth' construction elements were found.

Hydraulic tiles -that are wonderful for us- had been eliminated in earlier refurbishments and they could cover only half of the surface with them. Luckily, there were a parallel refurbishment in another apartment, where they were going to throw away all the tiles. It was decided to place them in independent stripes to create unity across the surface of the ground.

Good morning! What about these days? We have opted for maximum rest and enjoy our hobbies with us. Christmas is upon us and what better way to prepare it with this post in recognition of one of the most renowned photography agencies for their struggle for human dignity and the protection of their fundamental rights. Magnum Agency, a milestone.

In today's post we will focus on the history of the prestigious Magnum photo agency. Founded in 1947 by war reporters Robert Capa, David Seymour, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, Bill Vandivert, Maria Eisner and Rita Vandivert, has been one of the most important photojournalism agencies of the world. Formed from an initial capital of $ 400, is one of the first cooperatives in the world of photography, the first time that the photographers themselves become aware of their rights, because, until then, was the company that acquired the photographs for using them whenever they wished, without paying a bonus to the authors thereof.

In addition, the Magnum Agency provides a relative independence in the subjects choice, editing and publishing, unlike other photographers hired in magazines or newspapers of the time. This photographic institution shall document the most important twentieth century events such as lifestyles, wars, poverty, famine, governments, religions, celebrities, among others.

Its creators had in common their conception of the social order of the photograph, their respect for the reality photographed, their closeness to the human rights and interests, the search for emotional impact, care in the compositions and framing the narrative character of the photography, among others. In addition, their understanding of photography was completely revolutionary in terms of its proximity to the objective, the character of photography as well as capturing the moment, full of activity, psychology, deeply sensitive and emotional. These principles marked a before and after in the photography history.

Its founders exhibited their works for the first time in an exhibition entitled The face of time in 1955, however, the Magnum Agency had already lost one of its members. In 1954 Robert Capa died after stepping on a landmine in Indochina, leaving more than 70,000 negatives, visual testament of a century, furthermore, Wender Bischof also died in a traffic accident in the Andes, leaving the Magnum agency mired in a deep crisis.

Today, with offices in Tokyo, Paris, London and NY, the images of the Magnum Agency beyond its perfect framing and compositions studied are all a slogan, an icon of struggle for freedom, dignity and advocacy human rights.

Good morning everyone, this week full of festivities in Navarre has almost ended and we feature today a home which inspires calm and comfort. After a long hectic week for us, I needed to post an apartment with these qualities. As the network has no limits, we can take examples from anywhere, for sure they will inspire you and make a difference in our own projects.

Today's apartment is located in Melbourne, Australia and is signed by innovative architect Steven Whiting.

After long-refurbishment - more than the desirable according to customers - a young couple,the work was completed in 2012 and was honored at the 2012 AUSTRALIAN HOUSES AWARD.

Despite belonging to a well located building, is the tallest in the neighborhood and overlooks the beach, the apartment building from 70's wasn't attractive -in the words of architect- coupled. In addition access' apartment of 250 m2 spread over three levels, which was only possible to came in through a small lift and a narrow corridor.

They opened up the apartment by removing some walls and punching through the existing structure. They made sure the couple could stand anywhere in the apartment and get a breathtaking view.

The color palette used is a mixture of white, black, gray with a perfect touch of wood furniture like this dining table from Mark Tuckey.

The mixture is intentionally neutral to emphasize the textural qualities of the raw material - largely timber, steel and stone, with a cementitious screeded floor, French limestone wet areas and a wall tile with pearl effect in the kitchen - to allow carpets and artwork provide a touch of color.

Different materials offer a mix of textureswhat give the feeling of warmth the owners were looking for. The combination of simple straight lines in the kitchen cabinets and fireplace provide serenity.

Overall, the apartment does look so elegant, don't you think? Note that behind the apparent simplicity, it's a hard work to reduce ornaments and overstocked items, to search harmony between materials and colors, so that the result can't be better.

The design offers long term gratification. Like looking at a wonderful work of art, it reveals more with each look, something unexpected or unseen at first glance. The mark of truly good design is to go beyond the obvious shock value. We try for something enduring that will stand the test of time and still work and look current in 10 or 20 years' time - S. Whiting